Compact heat exchanger made of ceramics having corrosion resistance at high temperature

ABSTRACT

Ceramic materials that are highly resistant to strong acids such as concentrated sulfuric acid and halides such as hydrogen iodide are employed to make block elements through which a large number of circular ingress channels extend in perpendicular directions and which are joined and piled in the heat exchanging medium section to provide a compact heat exchanger that excels not only in corrosion resistance but also in high-temperature strength.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to heat exchangers that have the heat exchangingsection composed of ceramic blocks and which are applicable to wideareas including the atomic industry, aerospace, industries in general,and consumers use.

No corrosion-resistant materials have heretofore been available thatenable concentrated sulfuric acid solutions to be vaporized and hydrogeniodide solutions to be vaporized and decomposed under high-temperature(>1000° C.) and high-pressure (>6 MPa) conditions; heat exchangers forsuch purposes have also been unavailable. To date, several ceramicsmanufacturers have made attempts to fabricate heat exchangers forhigh-temperature operation by using ceramic blocks but all failed tomake large enough equipment on account of inadequacy in the strength ofthe blocks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object, therefore, of the present invention is to provide a heatexchanger that withstands heat exchange in large capacities ranging fromseveral tens to a hundred megawatts in high-temperature (>1000° C.) andhigh-pressure (>6 MPa) environments of strong acids and halides in asolution as well as a gaseous phase and which yet can be fabricated in acompact configuration.

According to the present invention, ceramic materials that are highlyresistant to strong acids such as concentrated sulfuric acid and halidessuch as hydrogen iodide are employed to make block elements throughwhich a large number of circular ingress channels extend inperpendicular directions; by joining such block elements and piling themin the heat exchanging medium section, the invention provides a compactheat-exchanger that excels not only in corrosion resistance but also inhigh-temperature strength.

The compact heat exchanger of the invention which withstands hightemperature (−1000° C.) and high pressure as well as exhibiting highcorrosion resistance can also be used as an intermediate heat exchangerin hot gas furnaces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the concept of a nuclear thermochemical IS plant;

FIG. 2 shows the design concept of a concentrated sulfuric acidvaporizer in actual operation;

FIG. 3 shows the shapes of ceramic blocks and experimentally fabricatedceramic pillars;

FIG. 4 shows a method of fabricating a ceramic pillar;

FIG. 5 shows individual ceramic blocks which are joined in a pluralityof pillars and then bundled together to form a heat exchanging section;

FIG. 6 shows how ceramic pillars are eventually bundled together and howthey are combined with section plates and partition plates to establishhelium passageways;

FIG. 7 shows how section plates and partition plates are assembled;

FIG. 8 shows ceramic flow rate regulating plates as attached to the topand bottom of the fabricated heat exchanging section;

FIG. 9 shows reinforcing rings as subsequently attached to thefabricated heat exchanging section;

FIG. 10 shows the heat exchanging section as it is tightened by means oftie rods;

FIG. 11 shows the installation of inner tubes;

FIG. 12 shows how a pressure vessel for accommodating the heatexchanging section is assembled;

FIG. 13 shows how the heat exchanging section is installed within thepressure vessel;

FIG. 14 shows earthquake-resistant structures as they are fitted betweenthe pressure vessel and the heat exchanging section;

FIG. 15 shows how a top reflector and helium inlet bellows are attached;

FIG. 16 shows a top cover as it is fitted on the pressure vessel;

FIG. 17 shows a mechanical seal as it is fitted on the pressure vessel;

FIG. 18 shows the autoclave employed in a high-temperature,high-pressure corrosion test; and

FIG. 19 shows the results of the high-temperature, high-pressurecorrosion test conducted on various ceramics and refractory alloys.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a heat exchanger essential for realizingcommercialization of a nuclear thermochemical IS plant that can producelarge quantities of hydrogen and oxygen from the water feed usingnuclear heat with 950° C. FIG. 1 shows the concept of a nuclearthermochemical IS plant. Among the various components shown, those whichare operated under the most rigorous conditions are the sulfuric acidvaporizer and the hydrogen iodide decomposer.

FIG. 1 shows the concept of a nuclear thermochemical IS plant; thereaction involved is such that using the hot thermal energy of 850° C.as supplied from the hot gas furnace, water as the feed is decomposedinto hydrogen and oxygen primarily through the combination of a sulfuricacid decomposing and regenerating cycle with a hydrogen iodidedecomposing and synthesizing cycle.

To be more specific, H₂O as supplied into the Bunsen reactor isdecomposed under high-temperature, high-pressure conditions in thepresence of both H₂SO₄ and HI. After the reaction, the liquid portioncontaining H₂SO₄ and HI is supplied into the acid separator where it isseparated into two layers of H₂SO₄ and HI. The HI containing solutionpasses through the purifier to be supplied into the distillation column;the resulting HI vapor is decomposed in the HI decomposer and theproduct H₂ is recovered from the condenser. The distillation residue inthe distillation column and the condensate in the condenser are returnedto the reactor.

The H₂SO₄ containing solution coming from the acid separator passesthrough the purifier to be supplied into the concentrator and theconcentrated H₂SO₄ solution is subjected to vaporization in the H₂SO₄vaporizer; the resulting vapor is fed into the H₂SO₄ decomposer, whereit is decomposed into SO₂, H₂O and O₂, which then pass through thecondenser to return to the Bunsen reactor.

FIG. 2 shows the design concept of a concentrated sulfuric acidvaporizer in actual operation. A concentrated sulfuric acid solution issupplied from the furnace bottom of the vaporizer toward the upper arm,whereas helium gas with 689° C. is introduced laterally through theupper arm of the vaporizer; the two feeds are respectively guided to theperpendicular channels through each of the ceramic blocks in thevaporizer, where they undergo heat exchange until the concentratedsulfuric acid is completely gasified.

FIG. 3 shows the shapes of ceramic blocks and experimentally fabricatedceramic pillars. Individual blocks are piled up along the four sides ofthe cross-shaped perforated section plate provided through the center ofthe sulfuric acid vaporizer shown in FIG. 2 and they are held inposition as the sulfuric acid feed is flowed upward through six or ninechannels (holes) opened in two sides of each block. The hot helium gasfeed is flowed laterally through four channels (holes) opened in a sideof each block, whereby the sulfuric acid is heated via each block. Thetwo groups of channels are formed in the block in such a way that theydo not communicate with each other.

FIG. 4 shows a method of fabricating a ceramic pillar by stacking aplurality of ceramic blocks. As shown, a sufficient number of blocks toform a pillar are vacuum sealed into a metal vacuum chamber and heatedfrom the outside, so that the blocks are joined one on top of another bymeans of brazing sheets to form a single pillar.

FIG. 5 shows individual ceramic blocks which are joined in a pluralityof pillars and then bundled together to form a heat exchanging section.

FIG. 6 shows how ceramic pillars are eventually bundled together and howthey are combined with section plates and partition plates to establishhelium passageways.

FIG. 7 shows how section plates and partition plates are assembled, withfour ceramic blocks being inserted and fixed in the center betweenadjacent partition plates.

FIG. 8 shows ceramic flow rate regulating plates as attached to the topand bottom of the fabricated heat exchanging section and FIG. 9 showsreinforcing rings as subsequently attached to the fabricated heatexchanging section.

FIG. 10 shows the individual constituent elements of the heat exchangingsection as they are tightened by means of tie rods.

FIG. 11 shows the installation of inner tubes on side walls of the heatexchanging section that has been tightened by the tie rods.

FIG. 12 shows that a pressure vessel for accommodating the heatexchanging section is assembled as shown.

FIG. 13 shows how the heat exchanging section is installed within thepressure vessel after it has been assembled as shown in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 shows earthquake-resistant structures as they are fitted betweenthe pressure vessel and the heat exchanging section.

FIG. 15 shows how a top reflector and helium inlet bellows are attachedto the heat exchanging section as it has been mounted in the pressurevessel with the aid of the earthquake-resistant structures.

FIGS. 16 and 17 shows a top cover and a mechanical seal, respectively,as they are fitted on the pressure vessel to complete a heat exchangerfor sulfuric acid.

EXAMPLE (A) Design Concept of a Ceramic Compact Concentrated SulfuricAcid Vaporizer and Experimental Fabrication of Individual Elements

Table 1 shows the design specifications of a concentrated sulfuric acidvaporizer for use in a nuclear thermochemical IS plant in actualoperation that can be connected to a hot gas furnace of 200 MW. FIG. 2shows the design concept of the concentrated sulfuric acid vaporizer.

TABLE 1 Specifications of Sulfuric Acid Vaporizer in Actual OperationHydrogen production rate 25,514 N³/h Heat load on vaporizer 63 MVHeating helium gas In/out temperature 689° C./486° C. Flow rate 1.2 ×10⁸ Nm³/h Process In/out temperature 455° C./486° C. Inlet H₂O/(L/G)363/816 kmol/h H₂SO₄ (L/G) 1552/408 kmol/h Total 3139 kmol/h OutletH₂O/(L/G) 0/1178 kmol/h H₂SO₄ (L/G) 0/1949 kmol/h Total 70,045 Nm³/hHeat exchange Δt1 203° C. Δt2 31° C. LMTD 92° C. Heat transfercoefficient 400 kcal/m² ° C. (as assumed) Pressure Helium inlet/H₂SO₄inlet 3 MPa/2 MPa

[How to Assemble the Concentrated Sulfuric Vaporizer]

(i) Fabricate a plurality of ceramic blocks (see FIG. 3) in each ofwhich helium channels cross concentrated sulfuric acid solution channelsat right angles.(ii) Fabricate a ceramic block pillar as shown in FIG. 4 by vacuumsealing into a metallic vacuum chamber a sufficient number of ceramicblocks to form a pillar and heating the blocks from the outside.(iii) Join individual ceramic blocks in a plurality of pillars andbundle them together as shown in FIG. 5 to form a heat exchangingsection.(iv) Eventually bundle ceramic pillars together and combine them withsection plates and partition plates to establish helium passageways asshown in FIG. 6.(v) Attach the ceramic heat exchanging section to the assembled sectionplates and partition plates as shown in FIG. 7.(vi) Attach ceramic flow rate regulating plates to the top and bottom ofthe fabricated heat exchanging section as shown in FIG. 8; subsequentlyattach reinforcing rings to the fabricated heat exchanging section asshown in FIG. 9.(vii) Tighten the heat exchanging section by means of tie rods as shownin FIG. 10.(viii) Install inner tubes as shown in FIG. 11.(ix) In a separate step, assemble a pressure vessel for accommodatingthe heat exchanging section as shown in FIG. 12.(x) Install the heat exchanging section within the pressure vessel asshown in FIG. 13.(xi) Further, fit earthquake-resistant structures between the pressurevessel and the heat exchanging section as shown in FIG. 14.(xii) Attach a top reflector and helium inlet bellows as shown in FIG.15.(xiii) In the last step, fit a top cover and a mechanical seal on thepressure vessel as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, respectively.

(B) Concentrated Sulfuric Acid Corrosion Test

The various ceramics and refractory alloys shown in Table 2 were filledinto glass ampules together with concentrated sulfuric acid andsubjected to a high-temperature, high-pressure corrosion test in anautoclave (see FIG. 18) under high-temperature (460° C.) high-pressure(2 MPa) conditions for 100 and 1000 hours. Test results are shown inTables 3 and 4 and in FIG. 19. The results for the 1000-h test aresummarized in Table 5. Silicon carbide and silicon nitride were found tohave satisfactory corrosion resistance.

TABLE 2 Test Sections for High-Pressure Boiling H₂SO₄ Corrosion Test(×100 h and 1000 h) Description Ampule No. Designation SymbolClassification Remarks  100 h test 1 SiC SiC-1 ceramic atmosphericpressure sintering of 97 wt % SiC, 1 wt % B and 2 wt % C 2 Si—SiCSi—SiC—N-1 atmospheric pressure sintering of 80 wt % SiC and 20 wt % Si(as silicon impregnated) 3 Si₃N₄ Si₃N₄-1 atmospheric pressure sinteringof 1 wt % SrO, 4 wt % MgO and 5 wt % CeO₂ 4 Sx SX-2 H₂SO₄ resistantsteel preliminarily oxidized at 800° C. × 90 h 5 FeSi FS-1 high-Siferrous alloy 14.8 Si—Fe 6 FS-2 19.7 Si—Fe 1000 h test 1 SX SX-2/halfH₂SO₄ resistant steel oxidized with the atmosphere at 800° C. × 90 h inhalf size 2 SX-2/small oxidized with the atmosphere at 800° C. × 90 h insmall size 3 SX SX-4/RT-1 H₂SO₄ resistant steel oxidized with nitricacid in small size SX-4/70.1 oxidized with nitric acid in small size 4SiC SiC ceramic 5 Si—SiC Si—SiC—N-3 Si-impregnated silicon carbideceramic 6 Si₃N₄ Si₃N₄ ceramic 7 FeSi FS-2/untreated high-Si ferrousalloy 19.7 Si—Fe FS-2/stress 19.7 Si—Fe, vacuum annealed at 1100° C. ×relieved 100 h

TABLE 3 Results of Size Measurements in High-Pressure Boiling H₂SO₄Corrosion Test (×100 h) Length (mm) Width (mm) Thickness (mm) AmpuleBefore After Change Before After Change Before After Change No.Designation Symbol test test (%) test test (%) test test (%) 1 SX-2SX-2/half 26.824 26.71 −0.42% 3.949 3.944 −0.13% 1.516 1.358 −10.42% 2SX-2/small 1.798 1.789 −0.50% 3.988 4.1 2.81% 1.545 1.589 2.85% 3 SX-4SX-4/RT-1 15.493 15.453 −0.26% 3.943 3.878 −1.65% 1.635 1.624 −0.67%SX-4/70.1 15.071 15.063 −0.05% 3.937 3.903 −0.86% 1.627 1.744 7.19% 4SiC SiC 39.727 39.71 −0.04% 4.035 4.034 −0.02% 2.993 2.991 −0.07% 5Si—SiC Si—SiC 40.029 40.04 0.03% 4.061 4.06 −0.02% 3.077 3.080 0.10% 6Si₃N₄ Si₃N₄ 39.826 39.8 −0.07% 4.065 4.068 0.07% 3.013 3.021 0.27% 7FeSi FS-2/untreated 19.083 19.101 0.09% 3.638 3.7 1.70% 3.595 3.6381.20% FS-2/stress 19.585 20.055 2.40% 5.700 3.705 −35.00% 5.557 3.578−35.61% relieved

TABLE 4 Results of Weight Measurements and Corrosion Rate inHigh-Pressure Boiling H₂SO₄ Corrosion Test (×100 h) Weight (g) CorrosionAmpule Before After Weight change Area rate No. Designation Symbol testtest (%) (mg) (cm²) (g/m² h) Remarks 1 SX-2 SX-2/half 1.2162 0.981619.29% −234.6 0.03052 0.961 Ampule broke in 800 h 2 SX-2/small 0.07720.0656 15.03% −11.6 0.00322 0.360 3 SX-4 SX-4/RT-1 0.7570 0.6738 10.99%−83.2 0.01857 1.244 Ampule broke in 360 h SX-4/70.1 0.7967 0.7198 9.65%−76.9 0.01805 1.183 Ampule broke in 360 h 4 SiC SiC 1.4476 1.4487 −0.08%1.1 0.05826 −0.002 5 Si—SiC Si—SiC 1.4823 1.4856 −0.22% 3.3 0.05964−0.006 6 Si₃N₄ Si₃N₄ 1.5611 1.5653 −0.27% 4.2 0.05883 −0.007 7 FeSiFS-2/untreated 1.6720 1.6330 2.33% −39.0 0.03022 0.129 FS-2/stress1.7425 1.7097 1.88% −32.8 0.05043 0.065 relieved

TABLE 5 Summary of 1000 h Test Cross section Dimensional Corrosionobserved at Overall Designation Symbol change rate Appearancemagnification Others rating SX-2 SX-2/half X X ⊚ ⊚ — X SX-2/small ◯ Δ ⊚⊚ — Δ SX-4 SX-4/RT-1 Δ X ⊚ ⊚ — X SX-4/70.1 Δ X ⊚ ⊚ — X SiC SiC ⊚ ⊚ ⊚ ⊚ ◯◯ Si—SiC Si—SiC ⊚ ⊚ ⊚ ⊚ ◯ ◯ Si₃N₄ Si₃N₄ ⊚ ⊚ ⊚ ⊚ ◯ ◯ FeSi FS-2/untreated⊚ Δ X X — X FS-2/stress relieved X Δ X X — X

1. A method for gasifying a concentrated sulfuric acid solution inconcentrated sulfuric acid vaporizer equipped with a compact heatexchanger having corrosion resistance at high temperatures above 6000°C., the method comprising: supplying a concentrated sulfuric acidsolution from a bottom of a vaporizer via a first feed channel;introducing a helium gas from a hot gas furnace laterally through anupper portion of the vaporizer via a second feed channel; wherein firstand second feed channels are oriented perpendicular to one another ineach one of ceramic blocks of the vaporizer; wherein the concentratedsulfuric acid solution and the helium gas undergo heat exchange untilthe concentrated sulfuric acid solution is completely gasified, andwherein the concentrated sulfuric acid vaporizer is associated with aBunsen reaction for decomposing water into hydrogen and oxygen through acombination of a sulfuric acid decomposition and regeneration cycle witha hydrogen iodide decomposition and synthesis cycle, wherein thermalenergy for the sulfuric acid cycle and the hydrogen iodide cycle issupplied by the hot gas furnace via the compact heat exchanger, whereinthe compact heat exchanger comprises: ceramic blocks made from siliconcarbide or silicone nitride having first feed channels between twoopposing sides of each block, the first feed channels being held open soas to flow the concentrated sulfuric acid solution upward through thefirst feed channels; the ceramic blocks having second feed channelsbetween two other opposing sides of each block, the second feed channelsbeing held open so as to flow hot helium gas laterally through thesecond feed channels of each block, so as to transfer heat from thesecond feed channels to the first feed channels so as to heat thesulfuric acid in each block, wherein the first and second feed channelsdo not communicate with one another; wherein ceramic pillars arefabricated by stacking a plurality of the ceramic blocks, the blocksbeing joined one on top of another with brazing sheets to form eachpillar; wherein a heat exchanging section is formed by combining fourceramic pillars with section plates and partition plates to establishlateral helium passageways; wherein ceramic flow rate regulating platesare attached to a top and to a bottom of the heat exchanging section,respectively; wherein a pressure vessel accommodates the heat exchangingsection; and wherein earthquake-resistant connectors are fitted betweenthe pressure vessel and the heat exchanging section.